The teacher, whose identity has not been revealed due to German privacy laws, first took sick leave in 2009 for mental health reasons.
For the next 16 years, she repeatedly extended her leave while receiving full pay from the education authority of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany.
According to German media, the school began questioning her prolonged absence and requested a medical examination. According to court documents filed with the North Rhine-Westphalia Administrative Court, the teacher refused and sued her employer, arguing that the request was unreasonable.
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The lawsuit sparked debate, questioning how the teacher could be on sick leave for so long without providing medical proof. Photo: DPA |
The lawsuit sparked debate, questioning how the teacher could be on sick leave for so long without providing medical proof. Photo: DPA
The court ruled against her and ordered her to undergo a medical examination to confirm her condition if she wanted to continue receiving paid sick leave. She was also ordered to pay court fees of 2,500 EUR (nearly 80 million VND).
This unusual case, which only became public after the teacher took legal action against her employer, has angered the state's teachers' union.
"This behavior is a slap in the face to my colleagues. I have never encountered anything like this in my entire professional career. This is outrageous behavior," the state teachers' union president told Bild.
He said the teacher's actions were particularly egregious because German labor law prevents the school from finding a replacement, leaving her colleagues to shoulder her workload.
Many teachers in several German states are classified as "Beamte" – civil servants – and are entitled to generous benefit packages, including the right to indefinite full pay while on sick leave.
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, teachers in North Rhine-Westphalia earn an average of over 6,000 EUR (190 million VND) per month. This means that over the past 16 years, the teacher on sick leave has received approximately 72,000 EUR annually without working.
During her absence, from 2009 onwards, it's estimated she has been paid at least one million EUR (31 billion VND) by the state.
It remains unclear why the school waited 16 years to request medical documentation. Although the court ordered her to undergo a medical examination if she wished to continue receiving paid leave, there is no information on whether she has complied.
In a starkly contrasting labor dispute, an employee of France's largest telecom company sued his employer for paying him for 20 years without giving him any work.
In 2020, a French man also sued his company for a job so boring it ultimately led to depression. He won the case and was awarded over 40,000 EUR.
Hai Thu (Telegraph)
